Properties of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers, coconut husk and polypropylene composite - potential furniture material / Amran Shafie, Suhaimi Muhammed and Mohd Jafni Hashim

Composite panel was produced from agriculture waste fibers such as oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers and coconut husk mixed with plastic material such as polypropylene (PP). The panels produced were then assessed for the mechanical strength properties (bending, tensile and impact) and physical properties (water absorption and thickness swelling) in accordance with the ASTM Standards. Results from the mechanical strength tests revealed that the panels made from coconut husk and PP gave bending strength values of 3278.27 MPa for MOE and 29.14 MPa for MOR. Tensile strength values were 3271.972 MPa for MOE and 18.29 MPa for MOR. Impact strength value for such panel was 11.452/kJ. Meanwhile, panels made from the mixture of EFB fibers and PP gave bending strength values of 2832.80 MPa for MOE and 26.93 MPa for MOR. Tensile strength values were 3108.557 MPa for MOE and 15.73 MPa for MOR. Impact strength value for such panel was 10.629 /kJ. On the other hand, assessment on the physical properties indicated that panels made from the mixture of coconut husk and PP gave water absorption and thickness swelling values of 1.357% and 1.185% respectively, whereas, those panels made from the mixture of empty fruit bunch fibers and PP gave water absorption and thickness swelling values of 3.972% and 3.844% respectively. Thus, it can be concluded from the above findings that coconut husk has a much greater potential as an alternative raw material for the production of composite products when combined with polypropylene.